Knockin' on Heaven's Door
by FoxPhile
Summary: Paige is dealing with a new neighbor with a nightly habit. This was written before Season 3 started. It takes place in a universe where Civil War never was.
1. Chapter 1: Knockin' on Heaven's Door

**Title: Knockin' on Heaven's Door**

 **Summary: Paige is dealing with a new neighbor with a nightly habit.**

 **Author's Note – This was written before Season 3 started. It takes place in a universe where Civil War never was.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own** _ **/scorpion**_ **. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – Knockin' on Heaven's Door**

* * *

It had been another pleasant evening and Walter was loathe to see it end. Since he'd given up on speed-dating - deeming it too dangerous after his experience with Linda and the bomb - Paige had invited him to join her and Ralph for dinner at her home two or three times a week. Although it meant time away from his personal projects, he found himself agreeing to each invitation until it became a regular thing.

He was comfortable here. Paige's cuisine wasn't gourmet, but she excelled at things usually referred to as comfort food. This evening's pot roast was excellent and the fried chicken she made the weekend before could convince him to ease his usual restrictions on fried foods. She had apologized, saying that it was one of Ralph's favorites and the only time she had time to make it was when she had a day off. When she offered to make something else for him, he declined, reasoning that a rare deviation from his diet would not cause irreparable harm.

He might have to reconsider that assessment as his weight had increased by over five pounds in the few weeks since Paige's first invitation. Unwilling to curb the practice, Walter resolved to get a treadmill desk for the loft. He could walk off the extra pounds while not compromising the already diminished time available for his project work.

After dinner he would help Ralph clean up, then they would play video games or he and Ralph would work together on one of Ralph's college assignments. All too often, Walter found he was learning more than he was helping. That did nothing but please him. There was no longer any question in his mind that Ralph's intelligence exceeded his own. Walter was thrilled to imagine the boy's future accomplishments.

On school nights, Paige would send Ralph off to bed promptly at ten. The young genius would invariably protest, but Paige was firm and Walter – despite being loathe to see the evening end – never contradicted her. On the first several of these evenings, he would leave as soon as Paige finished tucking Ralph in. More recently, though, he lingered for an hour or so.

That, too, was causing a problem. Being alone with Paige intensified the feelings he had for her. He continued to deny those feelings when Toby would badger him about it, but Walter could no longer deny them to himself. He couldn't hope to control them by pretending they didn't exist. He knew he should call a halt to these evenings – or at least go back to leaving as soon as Ralph went to bed. But he couldn't bring himself to do that, either.

It was a shock the first time Paige pulled him aside at the garage, saying she wouldn't be able to do dinner the following evening. She had a date with Tim. When the Navy Seal told Walter that he was meeting Paige and Ralph for dinner, it hadn't really registered in Walter's mind as a date. But a few days later, Paige went out with Tim again. Alone.

Perhaps it was for the best. Walter knew he had strong feelings for Paige, but he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to share those feelings with her. He still didn't truly believe in love, although he supposed most people might apply that term to the emotions he was grappling with. Paige, however, obviously did believe in love. It wasn't fair of him to mislead her by continuing to indulge his own desire to spend time with her when he wasn't able to share in what he still considered a culturally contrived fantasy.

He wasn't willing to relinquish their evening routine, either.

"Ralph's all tucked in."

Walter looked up from the tablet he held in his hands and smiled. Ralph designed a puzzle and wanted Walter to try and solve it, but Walter set the tablet aside, focusing his attention on Paige for as long as he could allow himself to stay.

Spending time alone with Paige had served to remind Walter of one very human condition to which he was still quite susceptible. In addition to controlling his building emotional attachment, he was also finding it increasingly difficult to ignore certain biological urges he was experiencing. She sat down next to him and took the spot recently vacated by her son. When she reached across him to retrieve the tablet, his pulse and breathing sped up slightly and he fought the impulse to pull her into his arms and repeat the experiment they'd conducted so many months ago after their experience on the weather satellite.

Walter wanted desperately to kiss her.

For a moment, he imagined allowing the kiss to lead to other insanely inappropriate behavior. Walter envisioned pulling her onto his lap so that he could better access her soft lips. He would tease them open with his tongue, then tangle with hers. She would respond, doing some explorations of her own. Just recalling all this, plus the imagined feel of her warm, round bottom perched on his thighs, was enough to start stirrings that he needed to clamp down on before the direction of his thoughts became embarrassingly obvious. Against his better judgment, he allowed those thoughts to wander further. She might start to unbutton her blouse and pull it out from the waistband of her skirt, inviting him to run his fingers underneath the fabric to caress her stomach, then move up to…

"Are you okay, Walter? You're breathing like you just ran a marathon or something. I didn't think those video games were **that** exciting."

"What? Oh… n… no. I'm… I'm fine. Just… I was just… thinking about… h… holding you… um… holding _**onto**_ you in that storm. The memory is… is… exhilarating. I was… um… very concerned that I might lose my grip."

"Ohhhh… kay."

She drew out the word as though she was either seriously concerned for his well-being… or else she did not believe for one minute that he was thinking about the tornado. Walter hoped she had no clue what he was actually thinking about.

"I should… um… I should probably go." Walter knew the reluctance in his voice must be apparent, but he couldn't stay here if his mind… and worse, his body… insisted on dwelling on something he could never have.

"Walter, you don't have to leave right away. I really… I really think you should stay. At least until you calm down a bit."

"I… I can't calm down. Not while..."

Knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock…

"What is that?" Walter asked. The rhythmic knocking was obviously not coming from the front door, but seemed to be coming from the far wall of the living room. He turned to look at Paige, who was blushing. Maybe she had guessed the nature of his thoughts and she was… embarrassed? He really should be going, but his curiosity about the knocking demanded he stay.

"Oh. Yeah. That."

Walter wondered why Paige was hesitating. She apparently knew the answer.

"That's my new neighbor. He moved in about a week ago. It's not every night, but four or five times in the last week he's started up like that around ten-thirty. He keeps it up for about ten minutes, tops. I'm not sure if I'm more annoyed or sorry for whoever he's with. Thank goodness so far it's been after Ralph's bedtime. You don't really hear it in the back of the condo."

"Oh," Walter remarked. "I suppose he must have a strange work schedule, but it doesn't excuse doing that so late at night. Perhaps you should mention it to the management office? See if they can talk to him about it?"

"Oh God no!" she exclaimed, clapping one hand over her mouth as if shocked. "I couldn't possibly say anything to the management office about it. I'll just have to grin and bear it. I'll come up with some explanation if Ralph is in here when he starts up."

Walter was surprised that Paige would simply allow a neighbor to disturb the peace of her home on a regular basis without doing anything about it. She was generally quite forceful about ensuring that the Scorpion team were treated well and fairly by everyone they dealt with. He assumed she would be similarly protective of her own rights, and certainly more so when her son was involved. Still, he didn't feel he should contradict her decisions on the matter. It was her business.

"I suppose it… it might not be worth making a fuss over," he agreed. "He'll probably be finished soon and then you won't have to deal with it again."

Paige laughed. "I don't know, Walter. He doesn't seem to have much stamina on any given night. But I gotta hand it to the guy for persistence. I get the impression he'll be going at it on a regular basis for months if not years. Since his bedroom and my living room share a wall, unless he moves the bed, I'm probably stuck."

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock … knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock… knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock… knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock …

"Do you really think he has that many pictures?" Walter was confused.

"Pictures? What are you talking about? How would I know if he takes pictures? And… Ewwww!"

Walter couldn't imagine why he should care if Paige knew the man had pictures or not. Or why Paige was so surprised.

"If he's hanging pictures," he explained, "eventually he will have finished hanging them all and the hammering will stop."

"H… hanging… p… pictures?" Paige sputtered. Then she doubled over laughing, pausing occasionally to look at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.

"Walter," she said, hiccupping as she tried to catch her breath. "You don't seriously think the guy is hanging pictures?"

The genius sat back in his seat a moment, thinking. He couldn't imagine what else the man could be doing. He supposed he might be assembling furniture, but the noise was clearly that of something repeatedly hitting the shared wall. He noted that his breathing and pulse had returned to normal, so at least the discussion had relieved the tension he'd been feeling from the thoughts he was having earlier. He couldn't allow himself to let those thoughts get away with him or he would be daydreaming about taking Paige to bed and…

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh! You mean he's…oh!"

"… and the light dawns!"

Paige was grinning and Walter felt himself smiling sheepishly. She must think him a real idiot for not realizing the nature of the activity taking place next door.

* * *

August 6, 2016


	2. Chapter 2: Look's Like We Made It

**Title: Knockin' on Heaven's Door**

 **Summary: Paige is dealing with a new neighbor with a nightly habit.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own** _ **/scorpion**_ **. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.**

 **Author's Note: The first part of this chapter takes place right after 2.23** _ **Chernobyl Intentions**_ **, but before 2.24** _ **Toby or Not Toby**_ **. And just a reminder, this was written before Season 3 started. It takes place in a universe where Civil War never was, nor anything in Season 3 so far.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Look's Like We Made It**

* * *

Kissing Linda was… uncomfortable and… awkward. Remembering the feeling now was even worse, since Walter knew that her kiss came not from real affection, but from a desire to relive an experience. Despite the fact that he had no feelings beyond friendship for Linda, it still bothered him that she hadn't been with him for himself. He supposed he shouldn't fault her. He recalled that the thought foremost in his mind at the time was a wish that it was Paige, and not Linda. Admitting that to himself now only made things worse.

Reliving the sensation of Paige's lips on his made him think that nearly getting entombed in an imploded concrete containment building was worth it. He needed to savor that memory because he knew now he would never experience it again. Happy predicted he would screw things up, and she was right. To make matters worse, he was once again sitting in Paige's living room, waiting for her to return from putting Ralph to bed. He thought for a moment of simply slipping out before she returned, but even he knew that would only add to the awkwardness between them. No, he needed to stick it out and make a swift, but courteous exit. Now that he had all but pushed Paige into Tim's arms, they would likely not spend evenings together like this again.

Shortly after offering his tickets to Paige, Ralph was dropped off at the garage by his sitter and immediately asked if Walter would be joining them for dinner. The boy was so enthusiastic to hear about their experiences; Walter realized Paige agreed only because she couldn't bear to deny her son. They spent the evening relating their adventures to Ralph and avoided talking to each other at all. Undoubtedly, Paige would find a way to explain to Ralph that she was with Tim now and it would not be appropriate for Walter to visit anymore. Walter hoped he could somehow maintain a relationship with the boy who was the son he would never have. In trying to maintain his friendship with Paige, he'd all but destroyed it.

"He's sound asleep… I think. Either that or he's under the covers with his laptop googling nuclear disasters. I just hope it doesn't give him nightmares. I seriously need a good night's sleep."

Paige dropped down onto the small sofa next to Walter. He looked up, startled at her proximity. Before he could school the surprise from his features, she carefully edged away. Walter picked up a snow-globe from the table, needing some excuse not to look at her. Peering into the globe, he realized the scene was of a tiny town in a valley, aglow with Christmas lights. He shook the globe and watched as the swirling flake momentarily obliterated the scene.

"I'm sure Ralph will be fine. I would be surprised if he didn't want to find out more – curiosity is one of his hallmark traits."

"Yeah. I'm glad he's growing up with the Internet. I could never afford to buy books for everything he wants to know about. My mom was like that - constantly wanting to learn about things. She never went to college, but every spare corner of our house was full of books on all sorts of subjects. Since you told me Ralph is a genius, I've thought that must be where he gets it from. It makes me sad to think her intelligence was wasted. That's part of why I want to be sure Ralph has every opportunity to use his intelligence – why I want to be sure he can remain a part of Scorpion."

Walter looked up at that. "Ralph will be a welcome part of Scorpion for as long as he… and you… want him to be," he assured her.

"That's… that's good to hear."

Knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock…

"Oh God! Here we go again!"

Walter groaned. "I take it your… um… neighbor is still up to his nightly activities? What have you told Ralph?"

"Yes, he's still at it," Paige grumbled. "Thankfully so far he's not a weekend warrior, so Ralph has been spared this. I usually let Ralph stay up past ten on Friday and Saturday nights, but Mr. Casanova next door hasn't been… uh… 'hanging pictures' on those nights."

Walter felt himself warm at the reminder of his naiveté. At least the humorous situation was helping to diffuse some of the awkwardness. He held hope that he and Paige could at least continue a cordial working relationship. He needed to leave now before the awkwardness returned.

"I… I should be going. You have… you have packing to do."

"Right," she sighed.

Walter stood and made his way quickly to the door. He reached for the doorknob and turned, surprised to find Paige standing close behind him.

"I… I'll see you at um… at work tomorrow, right?"

"Of course," she responded. "Tomorrow's a work day, I'll… I'll be at work, just like normal."

"Like normal. Of course."

Walter opened the door and stepped out. He turned back again. Paige was holding the door open.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then. At work," he said. "Have a… a good night."

"Good night, Walter," she said and slowly closed the door.

Walter stood a moment, staring at the closed door. He had a sudden impulse to kick the door down, take Paige into his arms and return the breath of air she shared… with interest. Then he would tell her that the only person she was going to Lake Tahoe with would be him… not Armstrong.

But Walter O'Brien was not the sort of man to take such actions. He turned and walked towards the stairs and out of the building. Taking out his phone, he tapped the Uber app to get a car to take him home. How had his new car become the "company car"? That was a situation he would have to address first thing in the morning. In the meantime, he would spend the night wondering what Paige was doing. Would she stay up listening to her neighbor's activities or escape from them to her bedroom? Would she be packing practical pajamas or a sexy negligee? Would she take a hot shower, allowing the pelting water to soothe her muscles as it cascaded over her skin or would she relax in a bubble bath?

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Walter desperately needed an evening to relax and regain his equilibrium. The trip to Lake Tahoe and back was grueling. It had been both emotionally and physically draining. Returning, he was forced to deal with Happy and Toby on a case investigating high level security leaks at a romantic resort in Mexico. High ranking officers from several countries were lured to the resort where their every move, every communication and every web access was hacked. The perpetrators sold what they learned to whomever was willing to pay the price. Walter posed as a British member of MI-6 vacationing with Happy while Paige posed as a US State Department undersecretary on holiday with her bad boy toy, Toby. Things would have worked much better had they been able to pose with their usual partners, but under the circumstances, the personal tensions posed too much of a risk.

They were all back at home now, though. After a long talk with Paige, Toby and Happy agreed to take a couple of days off and work things out between them. Walter hoped they could do that.

Now he found himself, once more, sitting in Paige's living room. Happily accepting her invitation, he surprised Paige by insisting on making their dinner himself, allowing her to spend some time with Ralph. With all the traveling they had done recently, she'd been away from her son much too much. After dinner, the three of them shared the clean-up duties, then retired to the comfortable living room.

Walter realized this was the first time that they were actually alone – or almost alone - since he told Paige that he loved her in Tahoe. Ralph was working on homework for his regular school classes, and Paige insisted on watching some sort of competitive cooking show, saying she found it relaxing. It was a school night, so Ralph would be sent off to bed soon. Suddenly nervous at the prospect of being truly alone with Paige, Walter wasn't sure if he wanted that thirty minutes to go by quickly or slowly.

Knock knock knock knock… knock knock knock knock … knock knock knock knock knock knock…

"Oh gosh, he's early!" Paige whispered, darting a look at Ralph.

Ralph looked up and turned towards the source of the noise.

Knock knock… knock knock… knock knock… knock knock…

"Mom? What is that?" Ralph asked.

Paige stared at Walter. He shrugged his shoulders. He would have told the boy the truth, but it was not his decision to make.

"Um," she began, "I guess that's our new neighbor. He just moved in a couple of weeks ago and I guess… he's… he's hanging pictures." She turned and caught Walter's eye, giving an apologetic shrug of her own and grinning.

"Isn't it kind of late to be doing that?" Ralph asked.

"Well… you know… maybe he has a weird work schedule and this is the only time he has."

Ralph nodded, seeming to accept that explanation. Walter could tell that Paige was having difficulty not laughing.

"I um… I'm going to the bathroom," she said and rushed out of the room.

Ralph got up and came to sit with Walter.

"Walter, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, buddy. You know you can always ask me anything."

"You and my mom… there's something different about you."

"Something different? Different… how?"

"It's like… the way you look at mom. You look at her sort of like Toby looks at Happy. You did that before, but you would always try to hide it. Now you don't hide it anymore. And mom looks at you like that, too. And she smiles… a lot. I think maybe… maybe you _**like her**_ like her."

Walter rarely thought of discussing his feelings for Paige with Ralph, simply because up until a few days ago he never dreamed he would admit those feelings to her – making any discussion with Ralph impossible. He thought their new relationship was something that he should allow Paige to discuss with the boy, but Ralph asked _**him,**_ so he owed his young friend an honest answer.

"You're right, Ralph. There is something different. I'm... I'm glad you noticed, actually. It shows that you have a more well-developed EQ than I or most of the rest of the Scorpion team do."

Walter found his confidence waning. This was all so new to him that he found it difficult to articulate. In Tahoe, he'd simply blurted it out to Paige, a short and simple "I love you", with no explanation and no embellishment. But this was Ralph, and Paige obviously still felt Ralph was young enough to need shielding from certain subjects. Did that include telling Ralph about the change in their relationship? Ralph was much more aware of feelings than any of Scorpion had been at his age. After all, he had been the one who immediately recognized that Toby would not want an audience for his misery after the proposal.

"So you do like her, then? I mean _**like her**_ like her?"

Walter smiled at the childish euphemism. He should tell him the truth, all of it. "I've always liked Paige, Ralph. But a few days ago I realized I love her. It's… it's um… still hard… for me to um… to understand. I never thought I would feel… love. I didn't believe it existed. But now….I… I've learned. I love your mom."

Walter tensed. It hit him suddenly that a great deal hinged on Ralph's reaction. If Ralph wasn't comfortable with his new relationship with Paige, he didn't think it would be right to pursue it. Where would that leave them? Would they go back to being… colleagues? Toby once told him that you can't un-ring a bell, and he himself realized that once he was aware of certain facts about himself, there was no returning to who he was before. He could not go back to being unaware of loving Paige.

Ralph nodded and smiled. "I sort of thought that might be it. Mom likes you, too. A _**lot**_."

"Is that um… is that okay with you… Ralph?"

The boy shrugged. "Sure, I guess. I mean, you both seem really happy, and as long as you're not married to someone else like Happy, then you'll stay happy, right?"

Walter expelled the breath he was holding. "This is one science that I'm no genius in, Ralph, and I think it might be a little more complicated than that, but I'm going to do my best to learn all I can so we stay happy."

* * *

August 13, 2016 – August 30, 2016


	3. Chapter 3: Lets Spend the Night Together

**Title: Knockin' on Heaven's Door**

 **Summary: Paige is dealing with a new neighbor with a nightly habit.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own** _ **/scorpion**_ **. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.**

 **Author's Note: Just a reminder, this was written before Season 3 started. It takes place in a universe where Civil War never was.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Let's Spend the Night Together**

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean with Ralph?"

Paige sat down next to Walter and patted his knee affectionately before leaning against him and pulling his arm around her. He was nervous and she thought it was adorable. "I'm sure. I spoke with him last week about you staying overnight sometimes and he's perfectly fine about it. You heard him, he's excited for you to try my pecan waffles. Which translates to those are _**his**_ favorite and he's hoping that you being here is a special occasion so I'll make pecan waffles."

"But… does he know… I mean is he old enough…"

"If you're worried that I told him you're planning to have your wicked way with his mother, no, I haven't. And as far as I know he hasn't made the connection. He's old enough to know something about sex; we've had a few talks and I'm pretty sure he's read some things in Toby's textbooks. But right now I think it's all sort of academic to him. Like something other people do – but not his mom… or you. And I'm not going to tell him we do unless he asks."

"It just… it seems… strange. It's not as though we've hidden our relationship from Ralph but…"

"But you avoid public displays of affection, so you're pretty much hands off when Ralph… or anybody else… is around. You don't have to worry, Walter. We'll have the door closed and whenever we're out here and Ralph is with us we can still be hands off – if that's what you want." She snuggled closer. "But this will give us so much more time to be alone together and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to spending the entire night with you… and waking up with you..."

"And feeding me your famous pecan waffles?" He grinned.

She patted his knee again. "And feeding you my famous pecan waffles," she agreed. Paige stretched up and lightly kissed Walter's chin. He bent his head down slightly to meet her lips with his. They kissed gently for a few minutes. Paige didn't want to rush anything this time and she knew Walter felt the same. All of the previous times they'd been intimate had been with some sort of deadline – usually involving picking up Ralph. Walter never seemed to resent it, but Paige knew she often wished they could take their time.

* * *

 _When it came to making love, Walter was all about taking his time. When they made their relationship official and began dating, for several weeks Walter's only form of physical affection involved kissing her good night and the occasional hug. He would also put his arm around her when they watched a movie or hold her hand when they walked to and from the car. One evening, before starting the car to drive them home from a concert, he leaned over, took her in his arms and kissed her thoroughly. They'd spent the next twenty minutes or so making out like teenagers. After which he drove her home, walked her to her door and gave her the usual kiss goodnight._

 _About a month after that, Walter invited Paige to spend the evening with him in the loft. He'd ordered dinner from one of their favorite restaurants, then politely asked her if she was ready to begin a sexual relationship._

 _"As you know, Paige," he began, almost as if he was giving a business presentation, "we have been um… involved… for some months now. I've told you that I love you and you have indicated that those feelings are um… reciprocated." He was pacing in front of her, raking one hand through his hair and gesticulating with the other. He paused and looked at her, then suddenly sat down and took her hands in his. For a moment, Paige thought he was going to propose. She wasn't sure she was quite ready for that, but in the second before he continued, she determined that if he did ask her to marry him, she would say yes and just push for a long engagement._

 _"I um… I've had lately… a desire to um… to extend the nature of our physical relationship and I wanted to know… How would you feel about that?"_

 _"Walter, are you saying you want to go to bed with me?"_

 _He looked at her quizzically for a moment, and Paige thought she might have misunderstood._

 _"I'm saying I want to make love with you, Paige. The bed is optional, but probably the most appropriate location."_

 _Sometimes, it was all she could do not to laugh at Walter O'Brien's odd ways. It was particularly difficult when he said something incredibly romantic, only to follow it with a typical Walterism. She'd taken a moment to compose herself, looking down at where he was holding her hands in his, hoping he would think she was simply considering his suggestion._

 _She looked up at him and smiled, unconsciously adopting his slightly formal tone. "I'm… very glad you asked, Walter. I would very much like to make love with you, too."_

 _What happened then was much less awkward than Paige would have imagined. Walter put one arm around her waist and the other behind her head and drew her to him, kissing her lightly on the lips, then on the tip of her nose, each eyelid and her forehead, making her giggle before returning to kiss her lips again. When he deepened the kiss, she responded, delving her tongue into his mouth and allowing his to intertwine with hers. Before long, his hands were exploring her flesh, easing her blouse out of her skirt so that he could stroke her skin. She popped the buttons and shimmied out of the garment, while he undid the buttons of his own shirt, pulling one arm at a time out of the sleeves and allowing the shirt to fall to the couch behind him._

 _She let out a small cry of protest when he removed his hands and arms entirely in order to draw his undershirt over his head, but she forgave him when she realized she could now do a bit of exploring of her own. At some point, her bra was removed. She wasn't entirely sure if she did it herself or if he did. Then he was laying back and pulling her on top of him._

 _"I think you're right about the bed being more appropriate, Walter," she suggested when she realized they were in serious danger of falling off the narrow couch. They were grown adults, alone in his home with a perfectly fine bed nearby. They didn't need to grapple like adolescents in their parents' basement._

 _They got up from the couch, laughing as they stumbled, still kissing, across the floor. Once they were beside the bed, Walter released her again to remove his belt and his slacks. She followed suit, removing her skirt and thigh-top stockings._

 _Walter pulled back the covers, and Paige realized he was still rather nervous when he spent some moments plumping the pillows and smoothing the sheets. She stopped him by putting a hand on each of his arms and kissing his back, just between his shoulder blades._

 _"It's fine, Walter. Let's just get in and try it on for size, hmm?"_

 _He turned, smiling sheepishly. "I just… I just want it to be perfect," he stammered._

 _"Oh, Walter. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just so long as it's us."_

 _Thinking back, Paige couldn't believe she'd said that. It sounded like something from the romantic novels she sometimes indulged in. But she didn't regret it, because the words rekindled the mood and seemed to relax them both. Walter stepped back from the bed, inviting her in. She sat down, her silk panties making a slight shushing sound as she scooted across the bed and made room for Walter. When he joined her there was a sudden rush of lips and tongues and hands, touching and being touched, squeezing and licking and kissing. Several weeks later Walter revealed to her that he'd looked up kissing techniques on the Internet. Not because he'd never kissed anyone before – but because he was now very invested in making sure he got it right. He told her he'd practiced for hours on his hand. She couldn't help it that time; she'd laughed until her sides hurt, but she assured him that the hours spent in practice were more than worth it._

 _Later that first evening, when they lay curled together, Paige regretfully reminded Walter that she had to pick up Ralph from Toby's place in a half hour. He suggested they could call, but she reminded him of exactly what conclusions Toby would draw were they to do that. It would be all the worse for them if his conclusions were correct. When he began to kiss her and urge a quick encore, she reminded him that she needed time to dress so she wouldn't appear at Toby's door looking like she'd just rolled out of Walter's bed. It was just a few weeks later that they began to discuss the possibility that Walter might spend the night at Paige's condo._

* * *

They spent a delightful half hour just kissing, enjoying the novelty of not needing to proceed so quickly to the main event. Then Paige led Walter back to her bedroom, where they slowly undressed each other. With no time issues to restrain them, Walter was able to demonstrate some things he knew quite well. He cuddled and held her afterwards, allowing her to recover. Feeling impish, she asked him if that was something he'd practiced on his hand, too.

"No, but I did come across an app for that purpose."

"You're kidding! An app – you mean like for your phone?"

"Exactly. Apparently, you're supposed to lick your phone screen and the app tells you if you are hitting the right places or um… stroking too hard."

"Oh my god! Did you…?"

"No, I didn't," he assured her. "While I don't dispute the possible value of the app, I really didn't like the idea of licking my phone."

Paige turned over and buried her face in a pillow. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I seem to laugh a lot at the worst times."

"I don't mind when you laugh," Walter told her, turning over and kissing the area between her breasts. "I worry that I've changed your life so much, that I've brought so much fear and pain and danger into your life. When I realize I can still make you laugh, it makes me feel that, maybe being with me isn't all bad for you."

They talked for a while, interspersing the conversation with lazy kisses. Paige realized that was another thing they could do now that they didn't have to worry about time. She was going to enjoy pillow talk with Walter O'Brien.

Before long talk was abandoned. Paige gave herself into the sensations, experiencing every kiss, every caress, every thrust. Sometimes she would close her eyes and concentrate on the internal experience. Other times, like tonight, she would focus on Walter. He usually kept his eyes open until he was very close to the end. Then, she knew, he would give himself up to it. There was a time, she knew, when Walter feared the intensity of his feelings. In the few months they'd been together, he'd come to revel in them. She wasn't surprised that he was particularly fascinated by the feelings he experienced in these last few moments before climax.

Knock knock knock… knock knock knock.

Walter froze. His eyes popped open.

"Uh… Ralph?" Paige called. "What is it?"

"Mom," came the answer from just outside the bedroom door. "Can you and Walter stop hanging pictures? It's keeping me awake."

Walter rolled over and lay on his back, one fist firmly planted over his mouth. Paige thought for a moment that he was going to be sick, but then she realized his shoulders were shaking. He was laughing, but trying not to make a sound all the while gasping for breath.

"Sure, Sweetie," Paige answered her son. "Go back to bad, okay, baby? I can promise you Walter and I won't be hanging any more pictures tonight"

* * *

October 15, 2016


End file.
